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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25257214">Before They Were a Mystery</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prinxly/pseuds/Prinxly'>Prinxly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mystery Skulls Animated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abusive Parents, Arthur’s parents can go contract a virus, Multi, Other, Trans Arthur, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, afab language, deadnames, im not actually sure what I’m doing with this fic I’m just kind of exploring the space, i’ll add tags as they come up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:15:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25257214</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prinxly/pseuds/Prinxly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at the team before they were even a team - establishing the lives of each character before the current timeline of events. (AKA, fleshing out my headcanons)</p><p>Warning: AFAB language used and violent transphobic parents in the first chapter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arthur/Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur/Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Before They Were a Mystery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Artura Kingsmen hated her name. She hated being her mom’s dress-up doll. She hated that she was never allowed to just play with the stuff that she liked and was only ever allowed things that mom approved of. Her mom got very mad at Uncle Lance for giving her a pink plastic tool set for her 7th birthday. It was her favorite thing.</p><p> </p><p>When Artura was 12, she met a weird new kid at school. His name was Lewis and she’d never seen Lewis before. He just showed up in the middle of the school year and tried to blend in, but everyone was curious about him. Artura didn’t know what to make of him. She also didn’t pay him much mind.</p><p> </p><p>She’d been too busy with mourning her only friend moving away. Amir was someone she’d shared everything with; including clothes. As Amir was a boy, they’d often bring extra sets of clothes under their books in their backpacks to give one another. Amir enjoyed all the skirts and dresses while Artura enjoyed pants and loose shirts. Especially now, what with puberty and everything, the two were growing into bodies they didn’t particularly care for and enjoyed the ability to feel like their true selves with one another. When Amir’s family announced they were going to be moving across the country, it broke the two kids’ hearts. They were each other’s only support systems. Angry and confused, they both held each other and cried up until the day the Thompson family left. So when Lewis suddenly appeared, Artura mostly just felt angry. How dare the school just replace Amir with this random kid? Who even was he? Whatever. All Artura knew was that she’d sent Amir off with a secret set of skirts her mom had forgotten to make her wear and Amir had left behind some of her favorite baggy shirts and a set of sturdy jeans. It was the most sincere memento to their friendship: their desire to keep the other happy.</p><p> </p><p>So when Lewis found Artura on the ground, absolutely sobbing over a fresh tear in the only jeans he’d ever recalled her wearing ever, and a bloody knee, he offered her a hand and helped her to the nurse. He hadn’t made any friends yet at this school. He hadn’t expected to, but he secretly hoped he could be friends with this angry girl.</p><p> </p><p>The nurse cleaned up her knee and asked how it had happened, but Artura remained silent. It wasn’t as if girls weren’t allowed to wear jeans or anything, she just didn’t wear them. Her mom wouldn’t let her leave the house in jeans. But she wasn’t about to tell the nurse she’d been pushed over by a group of mean girls a grade above her who were taunting her for wearing jeans. The nurse sighed and put a bandage over the wound before letting the two leave.</p><p> </p><p>Once the two kids were outside again, Lewis dug up the courage to talk to her.</p><p> </p><p>“So...what happened?” He asked quietly. Artura’s face darkened and she glared harder at the ground, willing the tears to evaporate before they could fall.</p><p> </p><p>“None of your business.” She said. Lewis looked on sadly at her, but went on the defensive instead.</p><p> </p><p>“Geez, I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay, but whatever. I guess I’ll just leave,” Lewis fumed as he turned to walk away. Before he could even step away though, the sound of desperate sniffling caught his attention. When he turned back around, he saw the girl gripping her jeans tightly and tears cascading down her cheeks. Lewis waffled for a moment, trying to figure out what the best course of action would be. He eventually just scoffed before wrapping his arms around her and cradling her head to his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m s-sorry!” The girl cried into his shoulder. “I just - these were my best friend’s and now they’re ripped and dirty! And I can’t wash them cuz my mom’ll kill me!” Lewis felt his heart grow heavy as he began to rub the girl’s back and squeeze her tighter. She wrapped her arms around him as well and let out a few more heaving sobs.</p><p> </p><p>“Why would your mom kill you over ripping a pair of jeans? That happens all the time. Heck, they sell jeans with rips in them, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal,” Lewis tried to reason. The girl hiccuped as she pulled away from the embrace and wiped her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not cuz the jeans got ruined...” she said in a tear-strained voice. “She doesn’t even know I have them. She doesn’t let me wear jeans.”</p><p> </p><p>“What? That’s crazy, why wouldn’t she let you wear jeans?” Lewis exclaimed, moving to wrap an arm around her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know!!” She cried. “I’ve asked, but she says little girls have to look proper at all times!! But I hate it! I hate being a girl and I hate the dresses and I hate everything!!! I’m never comfortable and I hate it and my best friend Amir just moved away and he gave me these pants so I could feel comfortable for ONCE and now he’s GONE and I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!” She wailed before putting her face in her hands. “He was the only one that understood me...and I’m so scared cuz I don’t know if he’ll find anyone that understands him too.”</p><p> </p><p>Lewis blinked as it clicked into place. His adoptive parents weren’t exactly classic examples of gender roles. In fact, they were almost the opposite. His mother was the poster child of strength and stoicism, whereas his father was as soft and kind as a person could be. He knew that gender had nothing to do with who you were. This girl, she was being forced into a role she never wanted to play.</p><p> </p><p>“C-can I ask..what your name is?” He asked quietly. He barely noticed how he held his breath as he waited for her to answer. She looked at him with wide, tear-filled, frightened eyes. She studied him for a moment before her voice came out in a choked whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“I hate my name too.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then what do you want me to call you?”</p><p> </p><p>“...Ar....Arthur.”</p><p> </p><p>_____</p><p> </p><p>Lewis had come home from school that day asking for advice and his adoptive parents immediately requested they bring his new friend over for dinner. When the Peppers met the Kingsmens, the tension was palpable, but somehow the Peppers convinced Arthur’s parents that their “daughter” would be perfectly safe hanging out at their home. They had  small daughters of their own after all. Mrs. Pepper said she’d even teach “Artura” how to cook some of the meals they make for their restaurant. The prospect of the only Kingsmen child learning how to cook and clean like a proper little lady had Mrs. Kingsmen over the moon.</p><p> </p><p>The moment his parents were gone, the Peppers immediately apologized for the articles and name they’d used to Arthur. They were parents on a mission: let this boy be who he wants. Give their other boy a good friend. Keep him safe from his potentially abusive parents.</p><p> </p><p>The boys were instant best friends. They’d play with the younger girls and keep an eye on them, they’d play video games with each other while the girls cheered them on and begged to play too; they would talk about everything they loved like cartoons and movies and games.</p><p> </p><p>As they grew up together, they only got closer. The Pepper parents would often discuss whispered bets on who would fall for who first and when whichever one would confess first. Neither boy was ready to admit anything, not to themselves let alone other people. But they each felt their hearts flutter sometimes when they sat too close on the couch or when the little Pepper girls would wrestle with them and they’d end up on top of each other somehow.</p><p> </p><p>Mr. Pepper was particularly invested in making sure Arthur felt safe and comfortable and even gave him his old binders. Arthur was in tears and hugging Mr. Pepper for a solid ten minutes before Mrs. Pepper ushered for him to try them on and see if they fit or if they had to be fixed. They turned out to be a perfect fit. He’d never been so grateful in his entire life. Until the day came where he couldn’t handle his own home anymore.</p><p> </p><p>_______</p><p> </p><p>That was the day Arthur’s mom snapped. Somehow, Arthur had been getting away with wearing workout pants around the house. They were form-fitting to the point where they could just be thick leggings and they were Mom Approved. It was the closest thing to pants Arthur knew he was going to get. But she had come home from grocery shopping trip absolutely fuming that day. She wasn’t happy to see her child only wearing leggings of all things. How improper.</p><p> </p><p>She screamed at him to go change and put on a tasteful skirt. Arthur’s patience was at it’s limit too, but it wasn’t displayed through the one-sided shouting match. In a blind fury, Arthur raced to his room and started throwing clothes the Peppers had gotten for him into his backpack. He threw the small tool set his Uncle Lance had mailed to him disguised as a sewing kit into the bag alongside his laptop and various charging cords. He threw in anything he deemed necessary before zipping the bag shut and putting it by the door. He threw open his closet door and pulled out all the dresses and skirts and just began tearing them out. Tears were streaming down his face as all the pent up rage he’d felt all his life finally manifested into the manic energy that drove him to work as fast as he did. The sharp color on his desk caught his attention. He grabbed the red scissors and headed to the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>He heard his mother screaming about how he ‘better have something decent on by now with all the storming around he’d been doing in there’, but he paid her no mind as he locked himself in the bathroom. He took a shaky breath as he looked intensely into the mirror, studying his hair. He hated the length. His mother insisted it always remain long. He took a handful of hair into one hand raised the scissors to it in the other and started snipping away. Hair fell into the sink and all over the floor. Mostly blonde, definitely some dark brown. It was a weird familial trait he’d inherited from his dad’s side. He cut his bangs. He cut haphazardly around his skull. He didn’t slow down until he had nothing but uneven chunks only about an inch off his head. That’ll show her who’s “ladylike”.</p><p> </p><p>He jumped when there was a sudden thunderous pounding on the bathroom door. His mother’s screams were piercing directly through the door and into his eardrums and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He screamed back. That only sent her into a worse outrage. They screamed at each other through the bathroom door for what seemed like ages until suddenly the door knob began to rattle. Arthur’s eyes locked on the doorknob and watched as the screws began to turn. His breathing picked up and he began screaming in panic.</p><p> </p><p>The doorknob was yanked off forcefully before the door burst open and his father was standing there looking absolutely murderous. He began yelling before he could even register what Arthur had done. That is, until his mother screeched in disgust. She pushed past him and grabbed Arthur by the wrist, dragging him out of the bathroom and failing to get a solid grip on what little hair was left on his head. She dug her nails into the skin of Arthur’s wrist and he squirmed to escape her vice grip. She dragged him out to the living room before throwing him towards the couch, his father following close behind her. She began yelling again, pacing in front of him, but Arthur could barely see let alone listen to her rant. But she wasn’t having it. She gripped his cheeks with her nails and dragged his face up before using her other hand to slap him hard. Arthur fell to the floor with the force of it, ears ringing and eyes completely blurred now. He didn’t understand anything. He was heartbroken. He had always hoped that maybe one day he could stand up for himself and his parents, while upset, would at least let him be or grin and bear it. That maybe one day they’d just get too tired to keep up appearances, they’d get tired of policing how he looked. They’d at least stop caring enough to not bark at him to put on a skirt. But now that day likely wouldn’t come. Not with this day.</p><p> </p><p>Arthur shakily stood once the ringing in his ears stopped and his vision cleared. His parents had both gone silent. Had he missed something? He chanced a glance up at them and see them glaring at him, seemingly waiting for him to say something. Instead of dignifying them with any response, he walked past them to his room. His parents began their tirade again as he raced to just inside his door, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders. He raced to his window, shoving the clutter on his desk aside and began opening it. He worked as fast as he could to punch out the screen before swinging his legs out and hopping out.</p><p> </p><p>And then he ran.</p><p> </p><p>He ran as fast as he could with a backpack on his shoulders. He didn’t stop running, not even when his parents screams were no longer audible. He ran until he reached the Pepper’s front door, knocking loudly as he caught his breath.</p><p> </p><p>The door swung open after a minute and Arthur looked up to see Lewis. Both shocked and growing increasingly more upset at the sight of the other. Arthur because of the realization of everything he’d just done. Lewis because of the state of his best friend. Finally, Lewis pulled himself from his shock and dragged his best friend inside, clutching him to his chest as Arthur began crying. Just like the day they first met.</p><p> </p><p>Arthur clung to Lewis’s shirt like a lifeline. He openly sobbed into his best friend’s shoulder while Lewis hushed him, rocking him gently back and forth. Lewis gently eased the overstuffed backpack off of Arthur’s shoulders before properly embracing him again. He blushed when he realized that Arthur wasn’t wearing his binder, but shoved aside those thoughts and feelings for the time being. He just held him close, rubbing his hand against his friend’s back soothingly.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed like an eternity that they stood there, but soon enough there was the sound of footsteps coming towards them and two of the Pepper girls had come to see who had knocked so urgently at the door. The gasped when they saw Arthur. Paprika was the first to get over her shock.</p><p> </p><p>“Arthur!! You cut your hair!! Can I feel it? It looks fuzzy can I feel it please?” Paprika asked excitedly, reaching her hands up to be held. Arthur pulled away from Lewis to look at the girls. He wiped his eyes and kneeled down so Paprika could easily reach his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Paps,” Arthur said in a strangled voice. “Go for it. I haven’t really tested it myself. Do you like it?” Paprika could tell he was upset. She may only be four years old, but tears weren’t a new thing. She did her best to wipe the remaining tears from Arthur’s face before running a small hand through his hair. Her face lit up with a gasp.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s so soft!!! Belle-belle, feel it!! Feel it feel it it’s sooooo soft!!!” Paprika squealed. The older girl looked at Arthur hesitantly, but he just smiled and nodded his permission. Each girl had a hand on his head and were feeling the freshly cut hair, cooing over its softness. Lewis quietly bent over and picked up Arthur’s backpack as his adoptive parents came into the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Lewis, who’s at the door-“ Mr. Pepper had started but stopped when he saw the display. Belle turned around to her dad with a big smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy!!! Daddy come feel Arthur’s new hair!!! It’s so soft!!” She exclaimed but Mr. Pepper was already kneeling down placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright girls, go back to dinner, momma needs help with the napkins.” He said with a soft smile. The girls both chimed their “okay”s before running back towards the kitchen and leaving them be. Mr. Pepper spoke low and quiet.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright son, are you hurt? Can I see?” He asked. Arthur shook his head weakly, exhaustion finally settling in now that the adrenaline had left with the girls. Mr. Pepper took his other hand and placed it gently under Arthur’s chin to lift his face slowly. Arthur just barely whimpered but allowed his head to be lifted. He didn’t want Mr. Pepper to see him like this. He’d be so disappointed that wasn’t able to stand up for himself. But disappointment wasn’t an emotion on Mr. Pepper’s face. Instead, all he saw was sadness and determination. After studying the various injuries on his face, Mr. Pepper looked up to Lewis.</p><p> </p><p>“Lewis, could you take him up to your room? We need to get him cleaned up and in some comfortable clothes before dinner. I’m going to tell mom what’s going on.” Lewis nodded before crouching down to help Arthur up. Mr. Pepper helped get Arthur back into a standing position before making sure Lewis had a good grip on him.</p><p> </p><p>Lewis helped Arthur climb the stairs in silence, focusing solely on getting his best friend somewhere comfortable before asking questions. When they finally reached the top of the stairs and into Lewis’ room, Arthur all but collapsed onto his bed. Lewis set Arthur’s bag down at the end of the bed and sat down next to his best friend, not saying anything just yet. What could he say?</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry.” Arthur whispered. Lewis looked at him in shock. Arthur was staring at nothing, tears flowing quietly. Lewis crouched in front of him and grabbed his hands, bringing them to his own chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Artie? Breathe with me bud,” Lewis said quietly. He took in an exaggerated breath and held it for a moment as he waited for him to follow. Arthur took in a very shaky deep breath before they both let out their breath slowly. They repeated this a few times before Lewis was sure he wasn’t about to fall into a panic attack. He squeezed Arthur’s hands gently, still against his own chest and Arthur smiled weakly at him. ‘I wish this could last forever, his hands on my chest’ was a thought that flashed so quickly across Lewis’s brain he almost missed it, but that didn’t stop the blush from crawling across his cheeks. He let Arthur’s hands go and stood up once he could tell his breathing was even.</p><p> </p><p>“Mom’s making enchiladas,” Lewis said after a moment. “I’ll make sure they set aside a plate for you with a big glass of milk.” Arthur let out a chuckle before looking up at him and sticking his tongue out.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah yeah, I’m too white to handle your spicy food,” Arthur huffed with a smile. Lewis finally also broke out into a smile as he watched Arthur do the same.</p><p> </p><p>“You go ahead and clean up in the bathroom and I’ll let mom know to make you a plate, okay? Just holler if you need anything,” Lewis said as he started towards the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually,” Arthur started. Lewis paused in the doorframe and looked back at him. Arthur simply stared at his best friend for a moment, trying to figure out the best words before shaking his head and smiling a little. “I don’t remember what I was going to say,” he lied. “But thanks man.” Lewis cracked a sideways smile at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course. You know I’ve got your back,” Lewis said as he started back out again.</p><p> </p><p>“You too, dude,” Arthur called after him. He listened as Lewis made his way downstairs to join the rest of the Pepper family and sighed. His whole body was tingling with shock and he could still hear his heartbeat going crazy in his ears. Before he could stop himself, Arthur was asleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Woo okay! First fic for this fandom! Knowing me, I’m gonna make this a chaptered fic and abandon it after maybe the third chapter, but here’s hoping it doesn’t go that way this time!!!!!</p><p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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